The Cross-Centric Life (Col 2:6-15) (Devotional life class)
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Introduction:
1) The Christian life is to run away towards the obvious purpose Paul did in his life. It is called for the cross-centric life. According to verse 14, Christ destroyed all documents by the cross and overcome all enemies . “14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.“ So we can say that the cross-centric life is the ideal of normal Christian life.
Many people misunderstand the cross-centric life. They think of the life as the external figure as hanging in the neck or, some decoration in his house, but verses 6-7 reveal that it is the life of thankfulness. “ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” because the cross-bearing Christian reveals the thankfulness in his life. How can he give thankfulness to God? The thankfulness is the response of the received present because he know that in Christ he solves every problem and accomplishes the goodness in harmony of all things. In fact although they meet the suffering in his life, the thankfulness to God shall be spiritual secret to solve it. The world’s reason cannot understand this secret.
2) What does the cross- bearing life mean?
1. It is to caution the secular teaching.
1) What is the secular teaching? The text tells us two kinds.
(1) Philosophy and empty deceit
– The philosophy means to live wisdom” The stream was begun at Aden of the Greek. After they overcome many wars and took the peace in their lives, they began to think several thoughts in his speculated life. “ What existed in the beginning? It is the water, the fire, and the atom, etc. What is the life? The life is …. And What is the true happiness? Etc. Socrates, Aristotle were the Greek. The influence brought several stream of thought in the generation to generation. The China has the philosophy of Korean has the mixture thought for the influence of Buddhism and Confucianism. Especially the day of Colossian church received the influence of Hellenism. It was the Gnosticism that emphasized the divine character in Christ. – “deceptive” in the verse reveals that the contemporary thought influence to the church and the sound gospel. The thought made the New Age and the Post-modernism that despised the authority of the church. And they claimed the priority of the reason. Such thought influences on the tradition of Judaism.
2) The Jewish tradition. – This is not to follow the elementary study of the world. The Talmud in the Jewish tradition was connected to the humanistic wisdom and fall down into vague state. And also Colossian church separated of the days and replace the spiritual things into the physical things. The issue of the light aspect and the weight aspect had happened because they have the background of worldly elementary lessons. The humanism conflicted against the gospel.
Actually the Greek philosophy and Jewish tradition cannot avoid out of the humanism. It is the enemy of the cross. The wisdom of human shall be rebelled against the gospel.
= Our every thought connected to several things, those are ,making money, the issue of the pleasure and seeking the miracles. etc.
= Only the cross -centric life is the only way to overcome such temptation. If we despised the life that against the cross, we shall live the worst life in the Christian life, because we become to the enemy of God.
Ex: The Philippian church fall down into the situation. What is your life? Make your all lives to obey Christ. Only the cross-centric life cautions the false teaching in the Christian life.
2. It is to unite with Christ and His teaching
1) The cross-centric life is to caution the worldly lesson, and also is to unite with Christ and His teaching.
The union with Christ’s teaching means to enjoy the life of Canaan. Our main job should be settle to the Word of God. and also apply the wisdom to the Christian life. It means to meditate the Scripture in personal life.
3. How can we bear cross in our lives?
The cross-centric life accomplished by three things in our lives. What are they?
- It is to fight with his desire. Our primary problem is the carnal desire in us.
So we have to devote ourselves to fight against our sinful desire.
2) It is to accept his problem as God’s best present. We have to learn the present problem in our heart. We have to solve the problems with faith.
3) It is to live for his mission as his first people. According to the example of Paul we have to live the mission in our lives.
Conclusion:
The cross-centric life is the victory way and the normal Christian way. May the grace to understanding it and to apply it to your lives by the illumination of the Holy Spirit.